Go, Go Guti!

Wargaming in the Early Bronze age

with Zagros Highlanders
by Steve Neate
Slingshot 222, May 2002

Slipping out of being editor of Slingshot, I can now
confess that I wargame with Zagros Highlanders! It’s true
and a con�nuance of my obsession with more obscure and
infrequently seen armies. Now, l’m sure many of you are
saying “Zagros who?” so maybe not so much a “forgo�en
army” as a totally unheard of one. Well, for those of you
brave enough to venture into the altema�ve world that is
the early Bronze Age - where men were men and horses
were just asses - the Zagros Highlanders is list 4 in Book I
of the DBM army lists.
One of my personal historical heroes is Sargon of Akkad.
This man is a legend, so much so that legends are based
around those who tried to emulate him. His influence
lived long a�er his Empire ended and, in the words of the
DBM army list comments accompanying the Akkadian
army, he was for all Mesopotamian rulers the “paradigm
of a military conqueror, the ‘King of Ba�le‘ and the most
illustrious and revered monarch of the ancient Near East”.
Quite a tes�mony for a bloke who is over 4000 years
old! In fact, l would rate his legendary status up there
with other larger than life characters such as Alexander,
Charlemagne and Genghis Khan. All that is missing is the
Hollywood blockbuster…
Back to the plot. If you are going to wargame the amazing
exploits of Sargon, then Zagros‘ Highlanders are an
essen�al vic�m for Sargon’s mighty armies to trample
over. For coverage of just who the Zagros Highlanders
were, their events and contemporaries in Mesopotamia in
the Bronze Age, I recommend having a look amongst the
following:
ns
un s
Mo anu
tai
Yigael Yadin, The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands in the
light of archaeological discovery (Weldenfeld and
Nicolson, 1963).
Amélie Kuhlt, The Ancient Near East c.3030-330 BC
(Routledge, 1995).
Georges Roux, Ancient Iraq (Penguin. 3rd edi�on 1992).
The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume I, Parts 2A & 2B
(Cambridge University Press 1971).
Michael Roaf, Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the
Ancient Near East (Equinox, 1990).
Ross Burns, Monuments of Syria (Tauris, I992).
Henri Frankfort, The Art and Architecture of the Ancient
Orient (Yale University Press, 5th Edi�on 1996).
Gwendolyn Leick, Mesopotamia: The inven�on of the City
(Penguin Press, 2001).
Gwendolyn Leick, Who’s Who in the Ancient Near East
(Routledge, 1999).
Julian Reade, Mesopotamia (Bri�sh Museum Press, 2nd
Edi�on 2000).
Nigel S�llman & Nigel Tallis, Armies of the Ancient Near
East 3000BC to 539BC (Wargames Research Group,
1984).
Nigel Tallis, Chariot Wars (Warhammer Historical
Wargames Ltd., 1999).
Phil Barker 8 Richard Bodley-Sco�, D.B.M. Army Lists,
Book I: 3000 BC to 500 BC (Wargames Research Group,
2nd edi�on 2000).

Tig

Tig
Am

ris

ris

Eu Eu
ph ph
Ebla
ea

ea

rat ra
es te
an S

an S

s Ashur
Mario
ane

ane

GUTIUM Zagros Eshnunna

it e r r

it e r r

Mountains
Sippar
Med

Med

Syrian Desert AKKAD ELAM Kish Susa

Nippur
SUMER
Th Uruk Th
Map 1: e
G Map 2: e
G
ulf Ur ulf
The regions of Some Major Cities
Early Mesopotamia in Early Mesopotamia
These are good places to start on the early Bronze Age
armies. The defeated forms of the Lullubi (led by their
leader Satuni) are well represented on the ‘Stele of
Naram-Sin’ (grandson of Sargon) being soundly thrashed
in the mountainous terrain of the Zagros homeland by this
all-conquering Akkadian successor of Sargon assisted by
his well-armed Guards.
In 15mm there are a good range of figures available from
Chariot Miniatures. Their mul�-posed Gu�ans are fine
figures and amongst my favourites from their ranges. The
range also has all the necessary Sumerians and Akkadians
to complete the army plus there are many other suitable
figures that can be plundered from their other ranges.
Falcon Figures (now handled by Chariot Miniatures) also
do some and these can be used judiciously, but beware
that they may look a li�le on the tall side against the
Chariot Miniatures stuff. Also, plunder figures such as
archers and javelinmen from ranges of Libyans, Nubians
and even Elamites – Chariot Miniatures also produce
excellent ranges of these and Essex Miniatures also have
some suitable figures. The Zagros Highlanders were
very much a tribal/village folk so l would suggest as
much varia�on as you can achieve amongst them, with
some tribes or individuals heavily influenced by their
neighbours, which will give generous scope to some figure
conver�ng. It’s also possible that their descent into the
plains for the century (c.2200-2100 BC) a�er the collapse
of the Akkadian empire changed the appearance of some
or introduced other peoples into their figh�ng forces. Let
your personal taste in figures be your guide.
ln 25mm, QT did a range of Sumerians (now stocked by
Falcon) and Foundry are possibly releasing a range in the
future which could be supplemented with some of their
lovely Libyans and Nubians plus it’s also worth dipping into
their range of Mycenaean javelinmen, slingers and archers.
Akkadian archer by
Daniella Carisson
Fig 1 : Soldiers armed with spears and socketed axes from the
side pane of the ‘Stele of the Vultures’, a victory stele depic�ng
Eanatum of Lagash’s victory of Umma c.2450 BC, now in the
Louvre, Paris (see Kuhrt pp.36-8, Frankfort p.72 and Roux Plate 6)
As for pain�ng them, this is one of the advantages of these
armies as o�en they can be simply dressed in white kilt
(with or without coloured borders and fringes) or animal
skins and their own skin is tanned shades of brown. See
the S�llman and Tallis book for further details.
It’s not size that’s important...
If playing DBM, this army is going to be BIG. Its troops are
cheap and plen�ful - even the elite elements are bargain
basement. lt’s not the sort of army that improves with size
either. Thus I wouldn’t take it into a 500 Army Point (AP)
doubles compe��on for example unless you have a small
truck to transport it all. Deployment takes about an hour;
in a compe��on environment you will then be ridden
down by the inevitable mixture of knights and light cavalry
by about turn 3, leaving you with piles of figures to put
away on your own as your partner would have well and
truly deserted you for the coffee or the bar in retribu�on
for you convincing him to use this useless pile of lead. My
advice here is to s�ck to nice gentle and friendly 300-350
AP encounters by the fireside at home, whilst supping on
a glass of port and some fine cheese. l believe it’s what
Sargon would have done....
Likewise with Warhammer Ancient Ba�les (WAB). The
warriors are cheap and will be clumped into very large
warbands for staying power. Being unarrnoured and
unshielded you can expect them to die in large numbers to
missile fire and then get chewed up in melee; best advice
is to build very large units!
if you wish to soak up some points then you have to
revert to the period of Gu�-dominated Mesopotamia
a�er the collapse of the Akkadian Empire (c.2200-2100
BC). Inclusion of some Akkadian City mili�a troops during
the period of Gu� domina�on gives the army an extra
dimension of some rela�vely more solid heavy infantry for
figh�ng on the river plains. Such troops aren’t that much
more expensive than the tribal riff-raff but it all adds up!
Zagros Highlanders for Warhammer Ancient Zagros Highlanders for Arma�
Ba�les If using Arma�, suggested troops and command ra�ngs
Whilst the army would have its one general, probably would look something like the table below:
leading the unit of elite warriors, the other warriors
would be bolstered by a number of tribal leaders ac�ng as Zagros Highlanders CR: H3; L4; PB 2 Init 4
‘officers’ or ‘heroes’ of slightly be�er leadership (probably Units Type Prot Weapons Pts
Ld = 7) than the average tribal warrior. The morale of the 1 Elite Warriors* WB 5(1)3 +1 Bows/various 5
army is bri�le, so I would suggest including some two to 6-15 Warriors* WB 4(1)3 0 Various 3
three of these judiciously posi�oned to keep the lads in
the field. I don’t know of any use of standards by these 2-4 Javelinmen Sl 3(1)1 +2 Javelins 1
tribal armies. 2-7 Archers Sl 2(1)1 +2 Bows 1
Tac�cally, use the warriors aggressively, otherwise you 2-4 Slingers Sl 2(1)1 +2 Slings 1
will only give your opponent �me to shoot your shieldless 0-3 Akkadians* PH 6(0)0 +2 Spears 5
warriors to pieces. In a�ack, and in big units, the Zagros 0-1 Makkanites WB 5(1)3 +1 Various 3
may be able to sweep away stronger opponents, most
especially when gaming in-period — there are few, if any, The high +2 Protec�on (Prot) for the Akkadians represents
troops rated as “stubborn” in this period. their use of the large rectangular body shield. An asterisk
Your own volume of skirmishers may help you whi�le (*) beside a unit Type indicates a key unit for calcula�ng
casual�es off an unprotected opposi�on but keep them breakpoint.
away from contact as they just aren’t equipped for hand- Whilst the Akkadians can form one strong heavy
to-hand combat and will be easily sca�ered. command, especially if teamed up with the Elite Warriors,
The Akkadian spearmen are mili�a from the city-states it will be the two large commands of Warrior warbands
taken over by the Gu� a�er the fall of the Akkadian that will have to bear the brunt of the figh�ng. Use the
Empire. They will bring a colourful element to the army large volumes of skirmishers to so�en the enemy up
but will also provide a con�ngent of solid heavy infantry and harass a flank. Whilst heavy units stand up well to
that will fight well in melee. skirmishers in Arma�, if enough of these can be brought
to bear on a single unit, it can be only a ma�er of �me
Typical sta�s�cs for Zagros troops under WAB would look
before it can be destroyed by a sheer persistent volume
something like:
of missiles. However, don’t throw away your skirmishers if
M WS BS S T W I A Ld Pts you don’t have to — exercise a bit of cau�on as if they are
not on the table they can’t be a threat to anyone.
0-1 Elite warriors 5 4 3 3 3 1 3 1 7 10
This army should be at home in the hills and woods of the
Tribal warriors 5 3 3 3 3 1 3 1 5 5
Zagros Highlands.
Equipment: Elite warriors have double-handed weapons and
bow. Tribal warriors have mixed weapons and javelins.
Figh�ng in-period with DBM
Special Rule: Warband. Tribal warriors are Light Infantry.
A major point about these early Bronze Age armies is that
Tribal warriors must be more than 50% of the army. they prove at their best and most entertaining when used
“in-period”.
Skirmishers
l‘m sure many wargamers have looked at the early lists in
- javelinmen 5 2 3 3 3 1 3 1 5 4 DBM’s book lists and just skipped over them due to the
- archers 5 2 3 3 3 1 3 1 5 5 useless first impressions they give. In a game dominated
- slingers 5 2 3 3 3 1 3 1 5 5 by bone-crunching knights, immortal light cavalry and
well-drilled warbands, piles of men in loin cloths armed
Equipment: Logically, javelins or bow or sling
with s�cks just don’t make it in the cut and thrust of
Special Rule: Skimishers, Warband. compe��ve wargaming. But when pi�ed against each
other they make for entertaining games. Watching two
0-1 Akkadians 4 3 3 3 3 1 3 1 5 7 long lines of inferior Bowmen play last man standing as
Equipment: Thrus�ng spear. Can have large shield (+2) they decimate each other makes for quite compe��ve
Special Rule: Phalanx. dice rolling. lt’s the only �me l’ve seen commands break in
DBM without hand-to-hand combat.
0-1 Makkanites 5 3 3 3 3 1 3 1 5 5 The bulk of the army of the Zagros Highlands are the
Equipment: Sword and thrus�ng spear. Can have javelins in javelin-armed warriors. These will flesh out (i.e. “pad”)
place of thrus�ng spear. the army but have li�le staying power if caught in the
Special Rule: Warband. open. The DBM version 3 amendments have given them a
double rank against most other foot and being “inferior” is
somehow less inferior than it used to be. However, don’t
rely on them to charge their way to victory!
Why is this mob graded as rela�vely harmless Inferior
Auxilia under DBM and yet I list it as being ‘warband’
for WAB and Arma�? It’s a ma�er of what choices are
available against rela�ve opponents. They could operate
as massed Light infantry under Arma� I suppose but
l’m not sure the rules would allow the op�on for this.
It would suit as they could skirmish, shoot and outfight
true skirmishers whilst struggling themselves to hold off
heavier troops if caught in melee. If they were graded as
Warband under DBM then no civilised Bronze Age army
would be safe. The warband would power its way through
the Akkadian/Sumerian pikemen as if they weren’t there
— I’ve tried it and it’s a slaughter. As second- or even
third-rate tribal infantry (i.e. Inferior Auxilia), it’s a factor-
even fight against two ranks of pike (I know the rules allow
three but this is a gaming fiddle rather than based on any
evidence). The grading of the troops (the Superior pike(X)
versus Auxilia and the Inferior Auxilia Zagros Highlanders)
�lts the advantage in favour of the civilised phalanxes as it
should do. Experiment for yourself.
The useful part of the warrior con�ngent are the small
number (8 elements) of “Bodyguards”. Take them all, put
the minimum number (1 element) with the tribal ally-
general, and place the rest with the C-in-C (henceforth
known as the “Glorious Leader”). The reasoning is that
it is more effec�ve for melee to have them classed as
axemen (Fast Blades) rather than as archers (Ordinary
Bowman) and being “irregular” they will be impetuous
and may well need the Glorious Leader’s free PIP to avoid
recklessly sprin�ng off alone and being wiped out. Best to
hold them with the Glorious Leader ready to strike when
the opportunity presents itself. It’s not worth using them
as archers as this army won’t win ba�les with firepower,
something it can already have in plen�ful supply if the
skirmishing archers are taken as massed Inferior Bows.
Fast Blades, however, have the combat factors and speed
necessary to get to grips and roll the scores required
for ‘instant kills‘ on other early Bronze Age troop types
Auxiiary archer by
Daniella Carisson
Fig 2 : A group of figures from a fragmentary Akkadian
stele in the Louvre, Paris (Yadin p.151) Parts of the archer
and helmeted figure’s weapon are damaged.
(mainly, Bows, Auxilia and Pike and o�en inferior ones at
that). The only dilemma with these troops is just how they
should be classified — by their armament of long-handled
axe and bow they fit both DBM’s categories of Blades and
Bows but if you choose the former they can’t shoot and if
the la�er they don’t fight very well. A tricky one for DBM
but l think the melee op�on of Blades overrides the bows
if a choice has to be made for the sake of the gaming
mechanism.
Also, don’t crowd the board with difficult terrain, as
rough going is more useful. Occupy what terrain is there
if possible and use ambushes to keep the enemy guessing
to protect your flanks, but you don’t want to dissuade the
enemy from coming to get you. En�ce the enemy in and
then a�empt to surround him whilst skirmishing and using
flank a�acks. Watch out for massed archers as these will
tend to blow holes in your ranks and then cheekily ou�ight
you!
The Pike(X)/(I) combina�on is reasonably effec�ve in
melee (i.e. rated as Superior) against the majority of things
it will face in early Bronze Age armies, such as Auxilia,
Bowmen and Psiloi, and at least on evens against other
pikemen. However, to go on like a broken record, DBM’s
rule for ‘spontaneous’ combat follow-up by victorious
pikemen is lethal for Pk(X)/(I) combina�ons especially.
For games set in the early Bronze Age I would suggest
dropping this rule as the large shields carried by the front
ranks probably makes spontaneous advances somewhat
difficult! What I would replace the rule with is that “At
the end of the melee phase, pike of the same grade and
frontage and command will follow-up recoiled enemy if
all enemy are defeated”. This means that the whole pike
block in a command is either recoiled, stands or follows-
up.
What about the city mili�a troops as the Auxilia(X)
op�on? Regular Ax(X) used to be quite useful in these
armies under version 2 of DBM. Unfortunately, they are
now absolute rubbish and for gaming in the early Bronze
Age period they will be in real trouble, coun�ng Inferior
against nearly all they will have to face - Pike, Auxilia,
Bowmen and Psiloi. The best pictorial evidence we have
for these shieldless spearmen is from the stele of Naram-
Sin (men�oned previously) where the god-king himself is
seen climbing into the mountains aided by his Guards who
have (perhaps) le� cumbersome tower shields behind and
armed themselves with shorter spears and a rather nasty
looking long-ha�ed hand axe. Similarly armed troops are
also seen on the victory stele of Eanatum of Lagash (the so
called ‘Stele of the Vultures’) where some troops armed
with spears and socketed axes are marching behind the
chariot of the king who is charging into ba�le. Shades
of Alexander the Great’s Hypaspists here? Elite troops
whose training, professionalism and elan allows them
to be converted to any campaigning role their master so
desires? Difficulty here is that neither of these appear to
depict ‘mili�a’ troops so how widespread this prac�ce was
is impossible to tell.
As for figh�ng outside the
early Bronze Age with Zagros
Highlanders, it’s really not
worth saying more than “die
as slowly as you can”. Armies
generated for maximum ‘kill’
for compe��ons will most
likely tear the plucky lads from
the Zagros apart. However, in-
period, you will give any other
early Bronze Age army a run
for its money and that is the
best performance indicator.
The Tribute Convoy - A
DBA Scenario Game
Just to get you started in the
early Bronze Age, here’s a
quick scenario that needs few
figures to play.
The table is two 2x2 foot
terrain boards put together.
Put a one-element wide road
down the centre which gives
4 feet of road (i.e. short board
edge to edge). At one end of
the road the Akkadian convoy
will come on the table. At the
other is the city of Ur (just
off table). On the 2x2 board
where Ur is located sca�er
some fields - these count as
rough going. On the other 2x2
terrain board sca�er 3-4 hills
around the road (two small
and one large or four small
ones), with at least two of
Akkadian spearman by them steep and coun�ng as
Daniella Carisson
difficult going.
Fig 3 : A Pair of Akkadian soldiers
from the Victory Stele of Naram-Sin
c.2230 BC. Redrawn by the author
from S�llman & Tallis p.127
The scenario is an Akkadian tribute/tax convoy under
the command of a captain returning to Ur to deposit
the booty with the city’s Governor prior to going to the
Akkadian King. As this captain, your superiors don’t take
kindly to their loot not arriving. However, the Gu�ans
have got wind of this and their chie�ains like nothing
be�er than ge�ng their slice of the loot as well as s�cking
one up the nose of the King! Thus, a coali�on of local
tribes is going to try and seize its ‘fair share’.
The Akkadian forces are as follows:
Convoy Escort Garrison of Ur
6 elements of baggage (carts, 1 Governor leading a squad-
mules, etc.) ron of ba�le-cars (Knights)
1 captain as Blades 8 mili�a spearmen as Pike
8 mili�a spearmen as Pike 4 mercenary Zagros as Bows
2 mercenary Zagros as Bows 1 skirmishers as Psiloi
The first move of the convoy escort will be to deploy on
the road heading toward Ur. The baggage ini�ally moves
in single file and its movement rate is that of the pikemen,
even when on the road. For subsequent turns the Captain
rolls his PIP D6 and moves his troops. The baggage will
always move without expending PIPs if the Captain player
chooses to move it - it is not compulsory.
The Garrison of Ur will only come out to help once a
baggage element is a�acked by Gu�an tribesmen or
Gu�ans are seen deployed on the road between the city
and the convoy. The garrison has its own general and PIP
dice.
The Captain achieves maximum points for ge�ng the
baggage into Ur with himself. Posthumous maximum
points (of any total) are awarded if all the baggage
makes it into Ur but the Captain is killed defending them.
Otherwise, it’s 10 points for each baggage element
making it safely, 2 points for each mili�a spearmen making
it safely (don’t waste the ci�zen manpower!), 5 points
for destroying any Gu�an chie�ain and 1 point for each
element of Gu� destroyed. Unfortunately, it’s a big minus
20 for each baggage element lost.
Now, where are the Gu�ans in all this? They can either be
played by a second player or put on remote control. To do
this, number six points around the board.
One will be on the hill closest to the road
where the convoy comes on, two will be
the field nearest the city of Ur and three
to six will be the centre edge of each 2x2
gaming board to le� and right of the road.
To determine which band of Gu� arrive,
roll a D6 to discover arrival loca�on as set
out in the preceding paragraph. Once a
loca�on has been selected it cannot be
rolled again. Thus only one band of Gu�
can arrive at each loca�on. Reroll the dice
if an already selected loca�on gets scored
again.
Now roll a second D6 to decide who is in
this ‘warband’. Each spot on the dice is
equal to one element of warriors (Auxilia)
and one element of skirmishers (Psiloi).
For example if you roll a four there are
four elements of Auxilia and four elements
of Psiloi at that loca�on. If a five or six
is scored then one element of Auxilia is
exchanged for an element of Blade and
represents a chie�ain and his re�nue.
The Gu�ans, except for any chie�ain
element, will a�ack towards the nearest
baggage element and a�empt to loot it.
They achieve this by winning a combat
against the baggage element. A baggage
element fights as factor zero plus a D6. The
baggage cannot destroy an enemy element!
If the baggage repulses an a�ack it merely
represents the Gu� fumbling, stumbling
or squabbling in their enthusiasm for the
loot. As men�oned above as an excep�on,
any Gu�an chie�ain will make a direct
line towards the nearest Akkadian leader
element (the Captain or the Governor) with
the aim of figh�ng what he interprets as
his social equal and a victory which in his
eyes would bring him the greatest glory
and strengthen his leadership. The Gu�
will con�nue to a�ack un�l all baggage
elements are looted or they themselves are
destroyed. If a Gu�an chie�ain is destroyed
then his ‘own’ warband (i.e. those elements
only that arrived with him) will disperse off
the board in rout at the sight of their leader
being brought low. Any Gu�an ‘warband’
that does not have a chie�ain will fight on
whatever its losses.
And, if you think that this game can be altered
in any way to improve it or make it more
interes�ng, then please do so. Go you Gu�!
Lullubi warrior by
Daniella Carisson

The Dynasty of Akkad

Sargon (Sharrum-kin)
2334-2279 (all dates BC)

Rimish Manishtushu Erheduanna

2278-2270 2269-2255 High Priestess at Ur

Naram-Sin
2254-2218

Shar-Kali-Sharri Enmenanna
2217-2193 High Priestess at Ur

Utuhegal King of
The Third Dynasty of Ur
Lagash 2119-2113 (all dates BC)

Ur-Nammu
2212-2095
Fig 4 : Two figures from an
Akkadian cylinder seal c.2100
Shulgi Ennirgalanna BC in the Bri�sh Museum.
2094-2047 High Priestess at Ur The archer is probably a
mercenary Zagros Highlander
in an Akkadian Governor’s
Amar-Sin Shu-Sin Ennirzianna
2046-2038 2037-2029 High Priestess at Ur re�nue. The right hand figure
is the Governor himself,
suggested as the brother
Ibbi-Sin of the king by Reade p.63.
2028-2000 Sketched by the author.